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A £100m upgrade of Blackpool's tramway finished last year

Funding for an £18.2m extension to Blackpool's tram system is in place after the town's council agreed to pay the remaining £4.7m towards the scheme.

Under the plans the tramway will be extended from the resort's North Pier to Blackpool North railway station.

The Department for Transport is providing £16.4m of the funding.

Councillor John Jones said: "It is part of our regeneration plans to attract people and businesses to Blackpool and making it the hub of the Fylde."

'Jump on a tram'

Mr Jones, cabinet member for highways and transport, said it tied in with a £220m transformation of the north of the town centre, opposite the train station, known as the Central Business District. It was originally called the Talbot Gateway.

He said: "This is part of our regeneration plans and hopefully will boost the economy.

"The new gateway is looking great and you get a real city feel there and if businesses move to Blackpool they want to see we are moving forward there and that the tram [work] is part of that.

"It will mean you can jump on a tram from Starr Gate and get to North Station and likewise from Fleetwood."

The council's executive committee agreed to fund a detailed business case for the project and 10% of the costs on Monday.

Mr Jones said producing the business case could take three years but work on the new track would take only six months.